NPR

With Mattis Trip To Philippines, Reminders Of Waning U.S. Influence In Region

Soon after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived, Manila announced the end of an ISIS-inspired insurgency in Marawi. But there was no mention of significant U.S. support in the months-long operation
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte meets Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Oct. 24 at the 11th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting at the former Clark Air Base outside Manila. / DONDI TAWATAO / Getty Images

The steel-plated, modified Boeing 747 that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis travels the world on had flown west from suburban Washington, D.C., for 19 hours when it touched down Monday on an airstrip the U.S. once owned and operated.

in the Philippines used to be home to American bombers that pummeled Vietnam during the 1960s and early 1970s. And just as that ultimately futile U.S. intervention would become emblematic of a faltering American dominance in the region, so too is Clark Air Base now a ramshackle

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